Our Commitment to Education

The AT&T family of companies can proudly demonstrate that we have a vision of education in America that is not only about access lines and computers, but also about technology that works for teachers, librarians, and the students they teach. We have a robust history of giving to our education communities.

In 1992, long before state and federal governments stepped up to the challenge of funding technology for classrooms and libraries, we were engaged in multiple initiatives to jump-start and support efforts to get schools and libraries on the Information Superhighway. With the advent of government funding programs such as E-rate, we proactively promoted and supported discount and funding opportunities available to the education community. Through contributions of funds, Education Advocates, workshops, materials, equipment, technology support, hands-on training, and web-based resources, we have helped spread the benefits of technology to the broad spectrum of its customer base and beyond.

Funding Programs
Our local exchange companies provides customer support for the Federal E-rate program through workshops, consultations, and our own informative E-rate web site. Both California and Texas have state purchasing programs which allow schools and libraries to buy access equipment and services at discounted rates reducing the burden and expense of acquiring these services. Programs such as the California Teleconnect Fund (CTF) and Texas HB2128 provide discounts for schools and libraries that require promotion, process support, and subject matter experts.

In California, we have dedicated Service Centers to provide the billing and order processing for E-rate and the California Teleconnect Fund (CTF). The Schools and Libraries Corporation, which manages E-rate, recognized our significant contributions to the implementation process. To top it all off, we have a team of full-time E-rate experts that help both customers and our staff stay current on the latest changes within these programs, understand the best practices for filing, and follow through on all the requirements of the program.

AT&T Local Exchange Companies Initiatives
We employ full time Education Advocates to develop and deliver customized workshops on technology integration to our customers. All Education Advocates are former teachers and librarians. Education Advocates are available in Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, and California. (See the Regional Map to locate your Advocate!)

The Knowledge Network Explorer, an award-winning web site for educators, averages over 1.5 million pageviews per month and nearly half a million unique visitors from 107 countries. We maintain one of the largest videoconferencing listservs and searchable videoconferencing directories in the nation, if not the world. We have thousands of teachers and librarians receiving our weekly Blue Web’n updates. Each month, about 5000 new web pages are created by teachers and others using Filamentality, a free, fill-in-the-blank, online tool.

In Oklahoma, we contributed $3M over three years in grants to the State Department of Education for education technology. Contributions and grants in Kansas, Missouri, Texas and Arkansas totaled another $5.8M in 1997.

Our vision remains clear
Everything we do is designed for teachers, librarians, principals, and others interested in helping schools and libraries make the most effective use of technology. Our web pages and learning activities are written for a non-technical audience. The scenarios, examples, and ideas presented represent some of the easiest and most affordable ways to get started. Please share the Knowledge Network Explorer with others, particularly with the technical coordinators for your site or district. You may contact us for more information or to send comments and suggestions. Our homepage URL is http://www.kn.att.com